Any appointment that is not attended without any, or insufficient (less than 24 hours) notice of cancellation is already charged at 50% of the cost of that appointment, up to a ceiling of £150, and we require the charge to be settled before the appointment can be rebooked.

The reason for this is that it costs us in terms of staff wages, materials and energy regardless of whether a patient attends a scheduled appointment or not.

Importantly, from Monday 10th October this policy will be expanded to include all check-up and hygiene appointments carried out under VitalityPlan membership arrangements, and the cost of the appointment will be defined as the cost of the appointment as would be paid for by a pay-as-you-go patient.

Please could you help us by ensuring we have up-to-date telephone numbers and email addresses so that you are able to receive appointment reminders to minimise the chance of this happening.

It goes without saying that our staff will of course continue to apply this policy at their discretion and have freedom to waive the charge when a short notice cancellation request is received due to extenuating circumstances.

I am sure you will appreciate that with operating costs spiralling, we must close the little cracks that can so often affect our profitability. Just an hour of lost time in a nine or ten hour day has the potential to do this.